University to gain from PURSE

Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, is one among the 30 universities in India selected by the Department of Science and Technology for funding under the DST-PURSE programme. Under it, the university will receive Rs.9 crore for development of research infrastructure.

The university has been placed eighth among the 30 top Indian universities selected under this programme based on its h-index (a measure to assess the quality of research in science), university authorities say.

The Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (PURSE) scheme provides substantive research grants to universities based on the scientific publications in Science citation indexed journals through the SCOPUS database. The department identified universities with h-index ranging from 42-26 for R&D support during 2010-11. Mahatma Gandhi University had an h-index of 35.

The university will receive Rs.3 crore every year for three years. The grant is to be utilised by the School of Chemical Sciences, the School of Biosciences, the School of Environmental Sciences, and the School of Pure and Applied Physics, along with interdisciplinary centres such as the Centre for Nanosciences and Nanotechnology, Centre for Intensive Research in Basic Sciences, Inter-University Common Instrumentation Centre. A project implementation group (PIG) consisting of academics from all the science disciplines has been constituted by the university as per the DST guidelines.